The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1887-06-02

ANNApOIIs. MD. MaylT. l887

/ MAINLAND [
ANNAPOLIS. ND, May II, 1887 !
have just received from my father your
letter TO him Of the 10th instant, in which
| you inquire whether it was me who was on
board the Champagne whom she met with an
accident Of the coat Of France, and askinl
| for detailed account of the same. In re-
| ply to your query, may say at once that II
was me, though In the published account
| think they had me down as Nv g. Wright
instead of Benjamin" We left Hayre
about 80 o'clock on the morning Of the 7th
instant with about sew, nty-fvo cabin pas
| .engers and 400 steerage passengers; the
latter were prin cipRlly Italian emisrants.
Shortly after leaving Hayre thick fog came
up-so thick that 1t was almost i'm pos :ible to
see more than a ships length ahead. The
wind. The steam siren wa, blown nearly
every minute, but don I think the speed was
moderate at all. About 1890 O'clock
turned in my bunk, but had only been
there a few minutes when heard the Gu
ward back at full spet d. Almost at the same
moment there was tremendous crash,
which shook the ship from stem to stern.
You can we'll imasine that lost but little
time In making my toilet, which was n ore
upper deck everything was in confusion |;
the emigrants were cryie and attempting to
get into the small boats; men and women
were fighting for lite preservers, and to make
thi ogs still worse the ship was sink ng rapid
ly by the head. looked astern. but could
see nothing of the vessel which id run into
us. We were struck on the port side for
ward, and that portion Of the ships side was
carried away, the hole being about twenty
feet long by four feet, wide, most Of which
Fortunately the water tight bulkheads were
closed at once, which confined the water to
the forward part of the ship. aud caused the
bow to sink very low in the water. She con
tinueo sinking by the head until the screw
began to get out of water, when tho captain
part of the ship. The vessel was headed for
tho nearest land, and went ahead with all
possible speed. Guns were fred every min
ute as signals Of distress, and sign lis for
assistance were hoisted at the mastheads.
These latter were useless, as the fog con-
tinuet TOO thick ior anything to be dis
tinguished more than 100 yards away. The
small boats were cleared away, but unfor.
tuna;ely there were not enOugh of them to
hold 'one-tl ird Of the passengers. On this
account the emigrants were attempting to
take charge OF them, and were only prevented
by the prompt action of the cabin passeng srs
and sailors Of the chip. In one case
the two sailors on the boat, ait on the port
side, were overpowered and about forty Ital-
ians jumped in the boat imme diately. 'car-
ried away and spilled them in the water.
This accident had wonderful effect upon
the rest OF the Italians and brought them TO
their senses.
The cabin passengers behaved beautifully,
especially the ladies. OF course we told
them that there was no danger, and cited
many fictitious instances of where We had
been in similar predicaments. 10 this way
we succeeded in allaying their Tears to a
great ex lent. We're it not for the crazy, ex-
cited omigrants, an tutside observer could
not have told by the behavior of the passen-
gers that the sup was in great danger. The
captain did not feel justified in stopping to
rescue the unfortunate people who foil over
board IL, the small boat. or the lives Of oil
on board might have been sacrificed haa such
a course oeen pursued. We continued
our course as fast as possible
and the ship confined settling de per and
deeper in the water. Whom nearly every one
HAD given up hope, ofbeing rescued an En-
glish steamer hearing our guns suddenly APP
peared 10 the fog. We asked her for assist
ance, and she followed us as closely as DOS
sible: About haf an hour from this time
the ship was run aground, and the passen-
gers were transferred to the English steamer
in small boats. We arrived in Havre ut 10
o'olC ok the 81 ne night, and sailed on the
followingi Wednesday. for New. York OF
course ell Of my clothing, books, curios,
etc were ruined. Leaving this out, / can
not help blu look upon this accident as val
liable experience.
The vessel which ran into us, the VILE de
Rio JaneirO. was lost; her passengers were
all saved. The acc dent of the Champagne
ana VINE ue MO Janeiro az inc colilsion
between the Celtic and the Britannia, which
occurred about the same time. and many
Others which could mention serve to show
the folly of steaming ahead a. full ,peed in
fog. In my opinion travel on tho ocean
is as safe, if not safer than on land, il yeu
leave out the single case Of danger of col
lisions. This danger could be reduced to
almost nothing, if all vessels were com
PEELED to slow down to. say five or six knots
during thick fog. When this time comes.
as hope IT will, even n person not accus-
ocean as in railroad train between Mem
phis and Washington.
BENZ, WRIGHT,